Airstrike Kills 2 Insurgents in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON, Jan. 17, 2012 - A combined Afghan and coalition security force called in an airstrike that killed two insurgents in the Manduzai district of Afghanistan's Khost province today, military officials reported.

The force was searching for a Haqqani network leader who operates an insurgent cell in the Nadir Shah Kot district and plans roadside-bomb attacks.

The security force observed some insurgents burying a 100-pound bomb near a road and called for the precision airstrike that killed the two insurgents. Three others were detained.

The security force also confiscated a rocket-propelled grenade, multiple firearms and bomb-making materials.

In other operations today:

-- A combined force seized bomb-making materials, weapons and ammunition and detained several suspects while searching for a Taliban facilitator in the Baghlan-e Jadid district of Baghlan province. The facilitator makes explosives, constructs roadside bombs and supplies bomb-making materials to insurgent groups.

-- A combined force captured a Haqqani network leader and two other suspects in the Nadir Shah Kot district of Khost province. The leader trained insurgent fighters and directed roadside-bomb attacks.

In operations yesterday:

-- A combined force killed an insurgent, detained several suspects and seized weapons while searching for a Taliban facilitator in the Kajaki district of Helmand province. The facilitator operates a network in the Musa Qalah district and distributes weapons and explosives to insurgents.

-- A combined force killed several insurgents and seized 880 pounds of opium, 1,562 pounds of drug-producing chemicals and miscellaneous equipment in Helmand's Now Zad district.

-- Afghan and coalition forces killed seven insurgents and detained five suspects during several operations in eastern Afghanistan.

-- In the Panjwai district of Kandahar province, a combined patrol seized about 6,600 pounds of hashish.

In Jan. 15 operations:

-- A combined force detained several suspects and seized about 2,530 pounds of opium, several firearms and ammunition in the Washer district of Helmand province.

-- In the Nawah district of Ghazni province, a combined force found several bombs containing a total of about 100 pounds of explosives.

In Jan. 14 operations:

-- In the Dand district of Kandahar province, a combined force detained two suspects during a search for a Taliban leader linked to a recent suicide-bomb attack against an Afghan police official.

In Jan. 13 operations:

-- A combined patrol found finished bombs and about 165 pounds of explosives in the Maiwand district of Kandahar province.

-- In the Jalalabad district of Nangarhar province, a combined patrol discovered about 5,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate, a banned fertilizer insurgents use to make explosives.

-- Afghan security forces detained the two top figures in a narcotics ring operating out of the Shinwar district of Nangahar province. The Afghan-led operation, supported by coalition forces, also resulted in detention of eight people allegedly linked to narcotics activities. The arrests follow Afghan President Hamid Karzai's Jan. 9 order that the interior ministry take serious measures to bring drug dealers and narcotics networks to justice, citing the narcotics industry as a destabilizing factor that undermines the moral foundation of the state and contributes to an overall lack of security in Afghan society.

In Jan. 12 operations:

-- A combined force called in an airstrike that killed a Taliban leader and an associate in the Marah Warah district of Kunar province. The leader directed insurgent fighters who planned and led attacks against Afghan forces and led a June attack against a school-opening ceremony in the Daridam village.